The beautiful Na Pali coast

This morning I dragged Gavin to our last, longest, most strenuous, and most challenging hike of our trip: two legs of the Kalalau Trail on the Na Pali coast.  Our plan was to do eight miles: two from the start at Ke’e Beach to Hanakapi’ai Beach, two miles in to Hanakapi’ai Falls, and back to the start again.  Since we didn’t big enough bottles of water to attempt a long hike, we had to wait until the Last Chance Wainiha General Store to open so we could buy a couple liters of water for the trail.  Our tree house was conveniently located about 10 minutes by car away from Ke’e Beach, but we discovered we weren’t the only people interested in this trail; we had to park almost a half mile away from the start of the trail!

The first mile of the trail hiked up the cliffs to awesome views of the coast from above and huge waves crashing onto the cliffs below.

The Na Pali coast.

Gavin is smiling now, only 1 mile into the hike...  :)

The second mile started to get a little muddy and slippery, and led down to the Hanakapi’ai Beach.  The water there was so tempestuous that we couldn’t even see any sand, just the worn-smooth lava rocks out of which visitors had made many balanced stacks.  No swimming is allowed here, before the final descent to the beach is a wooden sign with a death tally of more than 80 people killed there!  We stopped for a snack and some water, then continued inland to Hanakapi’ai Falls.

Hanakapi'ai Beach. 

Definitely no swimming here! The photo doesn't do justice to the waves
crashing in all directions on the beach!

Lots of little man-made rock piles on the beach.

The trail to the falls immediately got quite a bit more challenging.  It wasn’t any more challenging in steepness, but the terrain got more difficult – the trail was mostly mud and various sizes of rocks covered in a layer of slippery mud; each footfall had to be absolutely precise!  My five fingers shoes were GREAT for this since they allow so much more feeling of the ground underfoot and use of grippy toes!  :)  The interior of the jungle was still really beautiful, though we couldn’t spend too much time looking around; we’d trip/slip and fall if we weren’t careful with every step!  We also had to traipse back and forth across Hanakapi’ai stream tiptoeing across rocks and trying not to fall in.  :)  Our hike was also delayed by people coming back the other way; many parts of the trail only had room for one person at a time so slip and slide over the rocks, and there were quite a few people on the trail.

After two miles of slugging through mud and dodging peoples’ hiking poles (we were one of the few people without them  :)  ), we arrived at Hanakapi’ai Falls.  Several other people were leaving as we arrived, so we ended up having it to ourselves with one Australian guy who was kind enough to take a photo of us.  We swam for a bit in the frigid water of the 300 foot (!!) pool at the base of the falls.  

Our first view of Hanakapi'ai Falls.

We made it!

Falls and the pool underneath.

Gavin and I at Hanakapi'ai Falls.

Time for a swim!!

The hike back down from the falls seemed to go much quicker, as there were fewer people on the trail, and it was all downhill.  It started to rain, but we didn’t mind since we were already wet and muddy.  :)  The hike back from Hanakapi’ai Beach to Ke’e beach was rather tiring, since that was much steeper and it was the last two of our eight miles.

Rainstorm on the Na Pali coast on our way back. It was only sprinkling
a bit where we were standing. 

The hike back up from Hamakapi'ai Beach.
The strip of red is part of the trail.

Gavin trudging up the last two miles of our hike.

All in all, the whole hike, including the extra mile to the car, a couple water/snack breaks, and swimming in the waterfall pool, took us about 6 hours.

We went to dinner in Hanalei again, this time trying the Kalypso restaurant.  We got to sit on the outdoor deck and had a decent meal.  I also tried a lilikoi margarita (lilikoi is passion fruit), which was delicious!

After dinner we went to Tahiti Nui, a “tiki dive bar” in Hanalei.  This bar was the only time on the trip that “felt” like how I expected Hawaii to be.  We sat in the fresh air, listening to an older man sing slow, sensual hula music. Two of the waitresses (the singer’s nieces) took a break from serving food and danced hula to a couple of his songs; one of them was like 9 and a half months pregnant and could STILL dance hula!  We ended our night there, sipping mai tais and passion fruit margaritas in the warm night.

Pleated cliffs, red dirt, and waterfalls

Gavin is tired of me dragging him out of bed early for activities, but we did one last early morning on this trip.  We got up today to drive back to the airport and take a helicopter tour of Kaua’i, including a landing at the waterfall featured in Jurassic Park (Manawaiopuna Falls).   The helicopter tour was about an hour and a half, and it was our first view of the sharp cliffs and canyons carved out of the north end of the island and through the middle, the Na Pali Coast and the Waimea Canyon.   Gavin got a window seat, but we both got stuck in the back row of the helicopter, and I was stuck in a middle seat with views obstructed by everybody’s heads.  <sigh>

Sunrise at the airport.

Our ride for the morning.

Ready to fly!

My view from the helicopter.

Waimea Canyon from above.

More of Waimea Canyon.

Look at all the little waterfalls!

The north coast of Kaua'i.

A green river valley. 

The Na Pali coast. 

"Pleated" cliffs. 

The Na Pali coast.

Jurassic Park falls was nice, about a 300-foot waterfall.  The helicopter pilot played the theme from Jurassic Park on our headsets as we approached. It was a good thing he played it, otherwise Gavin said he would have sung it for everybody.  :)

Maniwaiopuna Falls (Jurassic Park Falls)

Gavin and I at the helicopter landing place at Maniwaiopuna Falls.

After the helicopter ride, we decided to drive right to Waimea Canyon to see it from the ground, as it is hard to have size perspective when one is flying.  The scenic drive through the two parks (Waimea Canyon State Park and Koke’e State Park) that make of the canyon is full of lovely viewpoints.

Waimea Canyon from the ground. 

There were several lovely viewpoints along the Waimea Canyon Drive

That little waterfall in the left side of the photo is actually an 800 foot waterfall: Waipo'o Falls.  We hiked to it!

A closer viewpoint to Waipo'o Falls.

We also stopped to do a hike from the Pu’u Hinahina lookout to the Waipo’o Falls inside the canyon.  It was about four miles and not too strenuous, though it was mostly downhill on the way to the falls and uphill on the way back.  The hike also included a stop on a plateau inside the canyon with a vertigo-inducing sheer drop off on the side.

View from the end of the Cliff Trail, a short detour from our hike to
Waipo'o Falls.

Waimea Canyon Trail, a tree clinging to the side of the cliff. 

On a plateau inside the canyon.

Looking over the edge of the cliff.

Bright rusty-red dirt on the trail.

Gavin on the Waimea Canyon Trail.

The waterfall itself had nice little pools to get wet in, but we hadn’t brought any swimwear and the water was COLD!  We were able to stand at the top of the tall part of the fall and look over the edge.  Helicopters passed by for views of the falls and our group of 15 or so tourists lounging on the top of them.

We made it! This is just a small part of the Waipo'o Falls; the rest is
below us.

Panorama of Waipo'o Falls.

Gavin admires the view.

Looking over the edge of the falls.

View of the canyon from Waipo'o Falls.

After hiking, we headed to the end of the Waimea Canyon drive, ending at the Pu'u o Kila Lookout.

Pu'u o Kila Lookout with views of the Honopu Valley and the ocean.

Panorama of the Pu'u o Kila lookout.

After our scenic drive, we headed back to our tree house to get ready for a fancy dinner.  We headed over to the St. Regis Resort in Princeville to have dinner at the Kaua’i Grill, the top recommended restaurant on the island of Kaua’i in a massive resort that had basically taken over an entire peninsula of Kaua’i.  The restaurant had a large wall of windows facing the ocean, and was supposed to have a good view of sunset.  We had some tasty, fru fru expensive food, but it was delicious.  We couldn’t actually see the sun from this point on the island, but we got to watch the colors of the sky change and darken.  After dinner, we went to the less-fancy Makana Terrace restaurant in the resort that had actual outdoor seating facing the ocean.  We ended our night with tea, coffee, and fresh ocean breezes.

Chocolate stalactites, tricking falls

Today was our 7^th wedding anniversary, and we decided to celebrate it by getting up at 6am and spending the entire day in a car. :)  After a brief stop at the grocery store to buy sandwiches and water, we headed to the north side of the island for a day of driving through the jungle, past waterfalls, taking turns over one-lane bridges and on the edge of sheer cliffs.

Our first stop was Ho’okipa Lookout, where our viewpoint above the ocean and beach showed dozens of surfers tackling some pretty impressive waves close to some nasty, jagged lava rocks.

Big waves at Ho'okipa Lookout.

Evidently sometimes they get REALLY big - this ledge was pretty high
off the ground!

Closer to the waves at Ho'okipa Lookout.

A surfer at Ho'okipa beach.

Big waves!  (the ocean AND my giant hair, ha!)

Next we stopped at Twin Falls, the first waterfall on the road to Hana.  A short walk was supposed to bring us to two different levels of falls, but the upper level was closed.  The lower level was a small waterfall into a chilly-looking pool that a couple hardy tourists were jumping into, but it was still early in the morning and a bit chilly, so Gavin and I didn’t follow their example.  :)

We stopped for an early lunch at the Ke’anae village, a peninsula off the mainland where a small community lives.  There is a beach park on the ocean, and as we ate our sandwiches we got to wash the waves crashing on the lava rock formations on the shore.

Ke'anae beach park, our lunch break stop.

Our next brief stop was the Wailua Valley State Wayside, a little pullout where a short walk up a few stairs gave us a view into Ko’olau gap, which is a break in rim of Haleakala crater and a beautiful green valley.   There were supposed to be waterfalls visible, but they were completely dry.  Most of the waterfalls we had seen on this road trip have just been trickles, as it hasn’t rained recently.

Wailua Valley State Wayside.

Our next stop was Makapipi Falls, where the 1 lane bridge above the falls gave us a vertigo-inducing view DOWN the waterfall.  Of course our immature selves had a bit of a snicker at the name of the falls.  :)  (make a pee pee, if you pronounce it the way we were...)

We took a slight detour off the road to Hana to see the Hana Lava Tube.  The lava tube is an underground cave system formed by lava flows.  The stalactites and rare stalagmites were formed by lava rather than by dripping water, which created a some really interesting formations that looked like melting chocolate.  Much of the inside of the cave was covered in sparkling silver and gold, which were colonies of bacteria that live in the dark!   There was no lighting; we just had to take the flashlights given to us when we paid our admission fee.  At the end of the public part of the cave about ¼ mile in, we both turned off our flashlights and were surrounded by absolute pitch darkness, with only the sounds of dripping water.  I couldn’t stand it for too long, since some of the “helpful” plaques along the walk had mentioned hammerhead worms that rappel down from the ceiling, millipedes, and pure white crickets that live in the dark…  :)

There is a maze of red ti plants in front of the lava tube.  We didn't go
through the maze because we were feeling short on time.  :)

Stalactites here look like melted chocolate!

After the Hana Lava Tube, we visited Pi’ilanihale Heiau and Kahanu Garden.  The botanical garden had a number of native plants and trees with plaques that detailed their uses in Hawaiian culture.   Pi’ilanihale Heiau inside the gardens is the largest temple in Polynesia, made of black lava rocks.  We were not able to see much of it, as it was blocked off from tourists by a row of dense trees.

Kahanu Garden's "treacherous" coconut grove. There were dozens of signs
around it warning visitors away from walking under the coconut trees
in case a coconut fell on your head.  :)

Kahanu Garden and Pi'ilanihale Heiau.

Pi'ilanihale Heiau, as close as we could get to it.

Walking through Kahanu Garden.

Our next stop was Wai’anapanapa State Park, where we took a short walk to Pa’iloa Bay, said to be Maui’s prettiest black sand beach.  We didn’t stay long here, as the surf was rough and we still weren’t to the end of our drive, but I found the shiny black sand here really intriguing.

Pa'iloa Bay.

Black sand, blue water at Pa'iloa Bay.

Our final stop was the southern end of the Haleakala State Park, where we stopped to do the Pipiwai hike.  This hike was supposed to lead to two waterfalls and a bamboo forest.  I wasn’t sure how long the hike was (turns out four miles round trip…  :D ), but I wanted to see the bamboo forest, though Gavin was protesting that we were going to get stuck in the dark.  :)  So we took a pretty brisk pace, practically almost jogging the whole way.  The first part of the hike was suffused with the sickly sweet aroma of rotting berries that had fallen from the trees above the path.  The first waterfall (Makahiku Falls), like many others on the road to Hana, was just a trickle due to lack of rain.  We continued on the hike and came across a huge banyan tree.  At this point Gavin wanted to turn back, but a couple coming back the other way said we should at least go see the bamboo forest, so I convinced him to keep going.  :)

Makahiku Falls, like others of the day, was
tiny.

A huge banyan tree on the Pipiwai hike. 

Pools from small waterfalls on the way up to
Waimoku Falls.

A little higher on the path, we started crossing over the Pipiwai stream and over several small waterfalls, and then after crossing one bridge suddenly we were surrounded by nothing but bamboo; we had arrived at the bamboo forest!

Peeking through the bamboo.  :)

The trail up through the bamboo forest.

Looking up through the bamboo.

At this point we decided to keep going to the end of the hike, the 400 foot tall Waimoku Falls.  This waterfall was also thin due to lack of rain, but the height was definitely impressive!  Unfortunately, we couldn’t walk up to the bottom of the falls because it was closed due to flash flooding.

Waimoku Falls.

After practically running back down the trail, we got back into the car and decided to drive down the south side of the island rather than going back up the road to Hana to get home.  It was definitely a good decision!  The road wasn’t too bad, though unpaved in places and very narrow. It had lots of fun curves hugging cliff faces and some of the best views of the entire drive today! We stopped the car and watched the sun set into the ocean, then continued on our way.

Maui sunset.

Our trusty MINIVAN rental. Our rental car company offered a deal of
"cheapest rate available for whatever car we give you," and we got a
minivan.  We refused to upgrade to something else out of stubbornness.  :)

Since we had picked this southern route, it took us a LONG time to get back to our side of the island, so long that we didn’t have time to stop at our condo and shower/change for our anniversary dinner reservation at the Lahaina Grill!  So our sweaty, unwashed selves, me in my dusty Five Fingers shoes, humidity-induced, massive mane of wild hair, eyeliner almost completely sweat off, and Gavin in his dirty hiking sandals and sweaty t-shirt, arrived at the Lahaina Grill and had a fancy dinner among people dressed to the nines in their best Hawaiian dresses and khakis.  :)

Our sweaty, dirty selves classin' up the place at Lahaina Grill.

Gavin and our anniversary dessert, aptly named "The
Road to Hana. The stalactites at the Hana Lava Tube
had me craving chocolate for the rest of the day.  :)

After dinner we drove back to our condo and crashed into bed.   No plan for tomorrow, though I am guessing Gavin will ask it involve some actual relaxing.  :)